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Scottie's Tribute A352 build
Hello all,
My name is Scottie, (I'm a bit new at this posting thing, hope it comes out right) I have started to build one of Chris's A352's. I live in Hereford. Are there any people around this area doing anything similar? This is a build with a slight difference, I am doing my absolute best to re-create a Jaguar XKSS I am getting there very slowly and will start to post some pics of what I have done so far. |
Very much looking forward to this!
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Had to have a quick search to see what the XKSS looked like. Sweet, if it even looks 50% like this.
http://www.en.ozartsetc.com/wp-conte...ar-xkss_02.jpg |
I am hoping for a lot more than 50%!!!!
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http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7762e6dc.jpg
Surrey Times Headline - Elated pensioner shows off his prize in Wealthy Valley Home for the revoltingly rich retired 'Touch The Car' competition after managing an incredible twelve minutes without needing a wee break. Nice car, looking forward to seeing pics of progress :) |
I have a few pictures of an original XKSS from the Wilton House event I went to. When I get home later this week I will try to post them up.= although I am sure you have hundreds already.
What is your donor car? Good Luck! |
donar car
It sounds very mundane, but it happens to be a Triumph Spitfire.
The engine is only around 70 or 80 BHP, but with the car being a possible 500 Kilos ish, it should be quite nippy. There are other engine options of course but they may come later. I really want to post lots of pictures, but embarassingly , don't know how!! Can you help please? Being a newbie has its drawbacks, there does not appear to be any help info that relates to posting pics. |
Photobucket works well, here's a fairly simple guide -
http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic...se-photobucket Good luck. |
If you can get the URL for your picture it is quite easy. you just stick [ img] url here [/ img] but without the spaces.
The tricky bit can be getting th eURL for the picture. You have to load them up onto a hosting site on the internet. I use ggogle photos because it is free and easy. There are others such as Photobucket which I am sure are free and easy too. Using Google photos and Chrome as a browser you just right click and select 'copy image url'. Using Internet explorer on this works machine I havn't worked out how to do it. :-( First - load your pictures up to a hosting site Second - Get the URL for the pictures (not the URL at the top of the browser window) Third - stick the words IMG and /IMG inside square brackets either side on the URL Fourth -sit back and enjoy the pictures |
Many thanks to Mr Towed and WCA, I'll have a go.
I wish I was as good at posting pics as I am at hacking donar cars up!!! |
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progress so far
I have managed to get some of my pictures onto photo bucket, thanks to Fat Bloke's help, but I so far have failed to get them on this forum!
Watch this space! This SO FRUSTRATING!!! |
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Wow! Nice bit of juggling and balancing. Looks Greaaaaat.
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I finally got a sodding picture on the forum! Can't guarantee doing it again, but I will try.
Before the body shell arrived I tackled the problem of getting decent looking wheels. The Spitfire ones are just that - Spitfire ones. I wanted replica Dunlop wheels like the original. The cheapest I could find replicas were in the region of £350 each, which I could not afford ( or rather just would not pay) I found a company on the internet which were willing to make me wheels and if I wanted polished ones like Steve McQueen had on his XKSS they said they would cost me- wait for it £1600 AND that was EACH. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I didn't bother asking if VAT was to be added......... In the end, I found I had some 5.5j Triumph GT6 steel wheels, but they were solid disc type. They did not have the 15 one inch holes and the 15 1/4 inch holes . So I drilled out 120 holes in total,had them shot blasted, and with the £6000 odd quid I'd saved by not buying the polished ones took them to a paint shop for a good job. |
Wheels
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holes
Yes you are right! 120
Drilling holes is boring......... It took about an hour per wheel and I still use the same two bits/ hole cutters now |
Welcome to the Forum Scottie. Your detailing is something I am really looking forward to. Keep on posting those pictures.
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While I was waiting for my body shell, I had time to work out what I wanted to achieve and how I was going to do that.
Replicas are by definition frauds, and a lot of so called kit cars fall into this category also. If a Jaguar based XKSS is a fraud, how fraudulent must a Triumph Spitfire based one Be?? An incredibly naughty fraud I think! Fraud it may be, but to be half believable, it must be a damned good one, so attention to detail becomes very important. An XKSS is an iconic car, and a replica must have all of the salient features that make the car unique. After I finished the wheels to as good a standard as I could on my limited budget, I decide to tackle the very obvious side exhaust. On the original car, the exhaust is on the left because the XK engine has the manifold that side. Unfortunately the Spitfire has the exhaust manifold on the right, which meant having to get the gasses under the car floor and out to the left side. Because the finished car will be as low as I can get it, I could not use a large bore pipe To go under the floor, for obvious reasons, then it occurred to me that I could , if I squashed it almost flat. I worked out the surface area of the original pipe, squashed a much larger one, which when “flat” would give me a little more area than the original pipe and the problem was solved. All I had to do now was make it. The whole thing including the silencer box was to be made of stainless steel. I have tried to show the results in the pictures to follow, its not finished yet, but most of the hard work and problems have been sorted out. The system is made from discarded stainless steel bits and bobs from my local scrapyard at peanut prices. The most expensive buy was the argon gas needed to weld it all up. |
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When I was posting the pictures of the wheels earlier on, I forgot to add the pictures of the modified spinners.They were really cheap off ebay, but are quite hefty. They are solid aluminium chromed, and weigh over 630 grams each. I was not happy with the small "toy" bolt which was supposed to hold them in place on the wheel, so I made some small mods,
uprated the bolt, and added a second one, as I just did not trust the way it was designed to stay on! |
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Going well - I like you approach to the exhaust...... If there's a way, you'll find it!
Now I'm betting you wrecked the drill bit doing all those holes in the stainless! Nasty old stuff compared with mild steel (to drill). |
Someone else said I must have wrecked the drill bits and hole cutters, but they are still in good nick considering what they've been through!
I take your point about stainless steel though, I don't even like welding it! |
The body
The body finally arrived, and one of the first things I wanted to do was put aluminium louvres in the bonnet.
The original car had I think 6 or 7 inch louvres, but because I chose a non flip front end, it came with an ordinary opening type bonnet, which due to the position and width, the full size louvres would not fit/be practical. I went to B nQ and they had some cheap ally ones about 4 inches wide which I decided to fit. The XKSS had more louvres on the nearside as that is where all the heat from the exhaust manifold needed to be vented, so mine had to be similar to look the part. [IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6d208b11.jpg[/IMG] |
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps58e0550b.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps012044d1.jpg[/IMG] I cut the holes, routered the edges out about half a mil so the alloy would sit almost flush, stuk them in with epoxy resin, filled and sanded. although there will vbe a lot of rubbing down to be done yet to get a perfect finish for a top coat! |
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